Camera Questions

LBFish

LBFish

Reefing newb
Ok, so I am thinking about getting into a DSLR camera for Christmas and am looking for some help please. I've read most of the posts here that I can find and it seems that most people suggest either the Canon line or the Nikon line based on personal preference. And I do plan on going to the store and playing with both to see which one feels better to me.

So, the questions:

1. Are there any specific features that I will want to make sure I get? (or avoid for that matter)

2. All of the DSLR cameras seem to have 12 to 18 megapixels roughly; at this level, is there any significant difference or reason to go with a higher megapixel rating?

3. Are there any current specific models you can suggest for a beginner? I want a good camera, but I want to spend less than $2000 for camera and lens.

4. What lenses will be a must? Obviously I will want to be able to take great pictures and macro pictures of my tank. A good lens outdoor scenic and zoom pictures?

Thanks in advance!
 
More than 90mm.
But on second thought, with the cropped sensor in the D7000, that Tamron would be more like a 120mm so I think that would be plenty for photographing your tank.
 
Yes, that's the one.

Any flash will work. You can pick up old flashes on ebay for really cheap, but they will only operate in manual mode. You will have to manually set their power until you get your exposure right. If you get a nikon flash like an SB900, you will be able to take advantage of their amazing fully automatic TTL features, control them remotely with the in-camera menu system, create groups of flashes, etc. Check out Strobist for lots of information on creative flash lighting and nikons website should have some good info on their strobes.
 
Holy poop! Nikon sure is proud of their cameras! I think my entire tank costs less than the 7000, much less the 700. Ouch....No wonder Dennis' pics are so fantabulous.....
 
Any DSLR, wether it's made by nikon, canon, sony, olympus, panasonic, sigma, pentax, etc is going to cost more than a point and shoot, many of which btw cost $500 or more. The sensor size and blazing fast speed alone makes an $800 DSLR worth the extra cost over a $500 point and shoot.

You should check out the Leica M9 and lenses if you want to see proud. ;)
 
d2mini said:
You should check out the Leica M9 and lenses if you want to see proud. ;)
Click to expand...

Ye Gods! That's a year's tuition at a private school for my son! :shock: Not saying that it isn't a lovely piece of technology, but it's sure out of my league....I'll just have to deal with substandard pics until I win the lottery.....:D
 
Sir Alex said:
I briefly tried it out at BestBuy and it seems to do a nice job at blurring out the background. I didn't have time to really do anything with it. It didn't even have a card in...
Click to expand...

Well duh, they don't put the memory cards in the cameras that people get to play with. If they did they'd go broke replacing them all day long.
 
After the comments from Dennis I did a lot of researching and reading reviews about the camera. Not surprisingly, Dennis is right and every review I read agrees with him.
Some basically stated that the d7000 was really a model set between enthusiast and professional, at an enthusiast price.

After that, I went to the store and played with one for a while, and a couple others. For me, they are all about the same ergonomically, likely because i'm used to the little Sony cybershot point and shoots.

But, the D7000 feels pretty good, all the buttons seem to be easy to reach. I really like that it allows you to save a couple setting profiles and that it holds 2 memory cards. Since i've been looking to move into a dslr for a long, long time and it's Christmas, the wife agreed that it was time to move my upgrade my camera. I ordered exactly was Dennis suggested, should be here next week! It comes with a hefty price tag, but unless I want to become a professional photographer, I don't think I will ever outgrow this camera.

Thanks Dennis!
 
I think you'll be happy with the 7000, another great feature that one has is HD video along with continuous focusing during video (the first nikon model to offer that I believe).
 
Cool! Glad to help. :D
And ya, it's definitely a pro-worthy camera.
The only thing that would keep me from buying one as a backup to my D700 is that it's not full frame, which would create some issues using it alongside my full frame D700. But it even has useful features the D700 doesn't have like the dual card slots.

Now if Nikon would just announce that dang D800 already!!!! :grumble:
 
Hey Dennis, I've got a question regarding their cameras ... Do you know why Nikon still uses the CompactFlash cards in their professional/full frame cameras as opposed to the SD cards?
 
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